Meeting Needs and Making Disicples

Over the past several months our church has become increasingly passionate about meeting needs in our community utilizing a gospel centered approach.  I believe the Spirit is leading us to target large categories of needs in a way that can have tremendous impact.  In an attempt to bring better focus and intentionality to these ministries we are breaking them down this way:

1.  Children and Elderly at Risk:  Over 70% of the children in the schools around our church are on government assisted food programs.  Many of these children are in what the DHS identifies as "fragile families".  There is a big role for the church to play in ministries that focus on caring for these families and to reach out to children with after school programs and age graded ministry.  We have recently begun an Orphan Care ministry that focuses on adoption, foster care and work with orphaned children in our community and around the world.  In addition, our Daycare ministry is a big part of the solution for many of these families.  In addition to children at risk, we also are focused on caring for marginalized elderly.    Just like the children in fragile families who are in need of care and direction, the elderly in our community are often the most vulnerable and in need of attention, love and care.  Our Deacon ministry to the homebound is significant in this area.  In addition, our Capstone Ministry is focused on keeping up with our older members and is reaching out to the elderly in our community.

2.  Unwed Moms:  Almost every social problem in our culture is the result of fatherlessness.  We cannot get serious about helping to redeem our community without thinking about the enormous challenges of the single mom.  A recent study of children in poverty summarized the issue this way:

Women who give birth outside of marriage tend to be more disadvantaged than their married counterparts, both before and after having a nonmarital birth. Unmarried mothers generally have lower incomes, lower education levels, and greater dependence on welfare assistance than do married mothers. Economic disadvantage may even extend into old age, with women who are single mothers for a period of at least 10 years during their life at greater risk of being poor at ages 65 through 75.  In addition, women who have a nonmarital birth have reduced marriage prospects when compared with single women without children 

3.   Behavioral and Chemically Addicted: In the wake of the deaths of celebrities like Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston there has been a lot of talk about the problem of addiction in our society.  In a recent story about Houston's death the New York Times observed "heavy drinking costs the United States about $224 billion annually." The problem of drug and alcohol addiction has reached epidemic proportions in our culture.  The church must respond.  Our Celebrate Recovery ministry is continuing to grow and have an impact.  We cannot seriously address the deepest needs we see around us without continuing to find ways to help people with their hurts, habits and hangups utilizing a scripture based gospel centered approach.

4.  Extended Adolescent Male:  One of the outcomes of fatherless homes is that young men have little direction on the meaning of manhood.  This leads to what Robert Lewis calls "visionless men".   Men not taking responsibility for their lives is one of cultures biggest problems.  Boys who grow up in fatherless homes are much more likely to end up in poverty, commit crimes or get involved in a culture of addiction.  It is our passion to cast a strong vision for biblical manhood and to reach out to young men in our community who desperately need role models and resourcing so that they can embrace God's purpose for their lives.

Of course, the ultimate answer for all of these social problems is the gospel.  The Church is to be about the business of both meeting needs and making disciples.  We strongly believe the church has the answer for all of societies most pressing problems.  That means our responsibility to meet those needs and to disciple people in the faith is even greater.  Jesus taught us that we are to be salt and light to a world that desperately needs redemption.  He taught us to go into the world and make disciples. We therefore only have credibility when we passionately reach out to the "least of these" by first meeting their needs and then disciple them along the way.  We firmly believe that to be His church is to love ALL people to Christ and help them on their journey with God and others.  It is our reason for existence as a church on 30th and Council.   The "loving people to Christ" is the meeting needs part of our mission while the "helping them on their journey" is the making disciples side of it.  It is not either/or for us- it is both/and.   I will write more later about our specific ministries and how they fit in to these categories.